UK Corporate Governance Code Compliance and Reporting Training Course

Course overview

Boards, company secretaries, governance teams and senior assurance professionals must turn the UK Corporate Governance Code from a statement of intent into evidence-based reporting. The practical challenge is not simply identifying whether a provision applies; it is documenting decisions, testing governance arrangements, explaining departures clearly and ensuring the annual report tells a coherent story across board leadership, workforce engagement, audit, risk and internal control. Weak cross-functional evidence, generic comply-or-explain statements and untested control assurance can expose the organisation to investor challenge, regulatory scrutiny and reputational damage.

This five-day course provides a structured method for applying the 2024 UK Corporate Governance Code to listed-company governance and annual reporting. Participants examine the Code’s principles and provisions, map responsibilities to governance evidence, assess board and committee effectiveness, build a risk and internal-control assurance framework, and prepare credible comply-or-explain disclosures. They practise using disclosure checklists, board evaluation criteria, evidence registers, risk-control matrices and reporting sign-off workflows. Particular attention is given to Provision 29, including the board declaration on the effectiveness of material controls and the supporting annual review process.

Teaching combines expert-led interpretation of the Code with annual-report analysis, board-paper workshops, peer challenge and case-based drafting. Participants work through a realistic listed-company scenario involving governance gaps, a material control weakness and investor questions. They leave with a tailored UK Corporate Governance Code compliance and reporting action plan, including a provision-by-provision evidence map, priority gap assessment, disclosure improvement plan and implementation timetable that can be adapted for their next reporting cycle.

The course is designed for professionals who already work with boards, governance, risk, assurance, legal, finance or external reporting and need to strengthen the quality and defensibility of Code compliance.

Course objectives

By the end of this course, participants will be able to:

• Interpret the 2024 UK Corporate Governance Code principles and provisions against a listed company’s governance arrangements
• Construct a provision-by-provision compliance evidence register for annual report reporting
• Assess board, committee and chair effectiveness using documented evaluation criteria and challenge questions
• Draft a clear comply-or-explain statement that links a departure, rationale, mitigating actions and review date
• Design a Provision 29 internal-control review process supported by risk, control and assurance evidence
• Map board oversight responsibilities across audit, remuneration, nomination, workforce and stakeholder matters
• Test annual report governance disclosures for consistency with board papers, committee reports and risk reporting
• Produce a time-bound UK Corporate Governance Code compliance and reporting improvement plan

Benefits of attending

Target competencies

Who should attend

• Company Secretaries — who coordinate board processes, governance advice and annual report compliance
• Deputy Company Secretaries — who prepare governance papers and maintain the evidence trail for Code reporting
• Heads of Corporate Governance — who design governance frameworks and oversee implementation of the Code
• General Counsel and Legal Directors — who advise boards on regulatory obligations, disclosures and governance risk
• Internal Audit and Risk Leaders — who provide assurance over risk management and internal control effectiveness
• Finance Directors and Financial Reporting Managers — who coordinate annual report disclosures and reporting sign-off

Requirements and prerequisites

Participants should have working familiarity with board and committee structures, annual report production, and core corporate governance concepts such as directors’ duties, audit committees, risk appetite and internal control. Experience preparing board papers, governance reports, risk registers or listed-company disclosures will help participants apply the exercises quickly. Attendees should be able to read and interpret an annual report and should bring awareness of their organisation’s governance calendar and committee terms of reference where possible. No legal qualification, audit qualification, specialist governance software or prior detailed knowledge of every UK Corporate Governance Code provision is required.

Training methodology

The course uses instructor-led interpretation of the 2024 Code alongside practical reporting work. Participants analyse extracts from listed-company annual reports, identify weak disclosures, and apply an evidence-register template to a simulated organisation. Small groups conduct a board and committee effectiveness review, build a risk-control-assurance map for Provision 29, and draft an investor-ready explanation for a departure from a provision. Daily feedback connects each exercise to board calendars, committee papers and annual-report sign-off. The final session converts learning into an organisation-specific implementation plan.

Course outline

Day 1: Applying the UK Corporate Governance Code

• Purpose, structure and application of the 2024 UK Corporate Governance Code
• Premium listed company reporting context and annual report governance statements
• Principles versus provisions and the practical meaning of comply or explain
• Code applicability assessment for parent companies, subsidiaries and overseas issuers
• Board accountability for governance culture, purpose and long-term sustainable success
• Governance calendar alignment with board, committee and annual reporting cycles
• Provision-by-provision compliance evidence register design

Workshop: Participants create a first-pass Code applicability and evidence register for a simulated listed company, assigning owners, sources and reporting deadlines.

Day 2: Board Leadership, Composition and Effectiveness

• Board roles, chair leadership and division of responsibilities
• Independence assessment for chairs and non-executive directors
• Board composition, succession planning and skills matrix analysis
• Formal board performance evaluation methods and externally facilitated reviews
• Committee terms of reference, annual workplans and reporting lines
• Workforce engagement mechanisms and Section 172 stakeholder reporting links
• Board information quality, meeting effectiveness and action tracking

Workshop: Participants conduct a board effectiveness diagnostic using a skills matrix, meeting evidence and committee workplan extracts, then produce prioritised recommendations.

Day 3: Risk, Internal Control and Provision 29

• Board responsibility for risk management and internal control
• 2024 Code Provision 29 and the annual declaration on material controls
• Risk appetite statements, principal risks and emerging risk escalation
• Risk-control matrices and identification of material financial and non-financial controls
• Three lines model roles for management, risk, compliance and internal audit
• Annual effectiveness review planning, testing evidence and remediation tracking
• FRC Guidance on Risk Management, Internal Control and Related Financial and Business Reporting

Workshop: Participants build a risk-control-assurance matrix for a material operational risk and prepare the evidence needed to support a Provision 29 board review.

Day 4: Audit, Remuneration and Disclosure Quality

• Audit committee responsibilities, financial reporting oversight and auditor engagement
• Audit tendering, independence safeguards and external auditor assessment
• Malus, clawback and remuneration policy disclosure requirements
• Alignment of executive remuneration with purpose, strategy and long-term performance
• Annual report governance statement structure and cross-report consistency checks
• Writing specific comply-or-explain narratives for departures from provisions
• Investor, proxy adviser and regulator expectations for governance disclosure

Workshop: Participants redraft weak governance and audit committee disclosures, producing a concise comply-or-explain statement supported by documented evidence.

Day 5: Compliance Assurance and Reporting Implementation

• End-to-end Code compliance project plan for the reporting year
• Governance disclosure checklist and evidence retention controls
• Board, committee, executive and adviser roles in reporting sign-off
• Escalation routes for governance gaps, control deficiencies and late evidence
• Internal challenge protocols for annual report governance disclosures
• Responding to investor questions and audit committee challenge
• Measuring implementation progress through governance action trackers and review milestones

Workshop: Participants complete and present a tailored UK Corporate Governance Code compliance and reporting action plan with priorities, owners, evidence requirements and milestones.

Tools & standards covered

UK Corporate Governance Code 2024, FCA Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rules, FRC Guidance on Board Effectiveness, FRC Guidance on Risk Management, Internal Control and Related Financial and Business Reporting

A typical training day

Live online deliveries follow the same structure in the East Africa Time zone, with shorter screen blocks and longer breaks.

What the fee includes

How you can take this course

Certification

Participants who complete the full five days receive the Skillset Development Certificate of Completion, stating the course title, course code, dates and delivery format — suitable for professional-development records and employer reimbursement.

Frequently asked questions